Risking the Future Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing (1987) / Chapter Skim
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4 Determinants of Adolescent Sexual Behavior and Decision Making
4 Determinants of Adolescent Sexual Behavior and Decision Making
Pages 95-122
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From page 95... ...
A substantial body of research exists on the variety of ~ndividual, family, and somal factors associated with adolescent sexual activity; Chapter 2 presented the trends of the past decade and a half In this activity. This chapter discusses the determinants of six components of adolescent sexual behavior: 3~tiai~on of sexual acidity, contraceptive use, abortion, marriage before childbearing (legitimation)
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From page 96... ...
There are no comparable data for black boys and girls. However, earlier work suggests that the association between pubertal development and sexual behavior was stronger for white than black girls (Ze~ik et al., 1981)
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From page 97... ...
Others trace it to sigmficant normative differences ~ the acceptability of early sexual behavior. These explanations are not quite so divergent as they might Erst appear, since many who believe that there are subcultural differences trace them to economic and social disadvantage.
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From page 98... ...
. Using a vanety of Indicators of socioeconomic status and social disadvantage, it was possible to reduce only a small portion of the racial difference ~ the incidence of sexual expenence before age 16.
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From page 99... ...
Whether any such race differences represent subgroup values or more transient attitudinal adjustments to external c=cumstances is not clear. The data do suggest, however, that there are differences in community standards and expectations that affect the acceptability of early sexual behavior in the peer group.
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From page 100... ...
~t A number of studies suggest a strong association between low intellectual ability, low academic achievement, a lack of educational goals, and early sexual experience among both blacks and whites. Adolescent girls who score low on intelligence tests and place little value on educational attainment are more likely to have intercourse at an early age than those who are educationally ambitious.
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From page 101... ...
As they become older, many researchers believe, teenagers become better able to make well-reasoned, conscious decisions about their sexual behavior. It is interesting to note, however, that research from other developed countries shows that even young sexually active teenagers can effectively avoid pregnancy (Alan Guttmacher Institute, In press)
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From page 102... ...
Adolescent girls are more likely to have premantal intercourse if their mothers fait to combine affection with firm, mild discipline and to set clearly dewed limits 0D behavior. However, as Hofferth (Vol.
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From page 103... ...
First, in many cases, less parent-child communication takes place than is commonly assumed; second, such communication, whether so pronde information or to prescribe behavior, may not be fully heard by the child; and third, communication about sexual behavior frequently does not occur until after initiation of sexual activity (Newcomer and U3ry, 1983; Inazu and Fox, 1980~.
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From page 104... ...
for younger siblings (Hogan and Kitagawa, 1983~. Although there is strong evidence of these associations, the mechanisms by which they affect adolescent sexual behavior are not fully understood.
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From page 105... ...
In general, white girls appear to be most susceptible to peer influences in sexual decision making.
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From page 106... ...
DETERMINANTS OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE The existing research suggests that several factors are strongly assoc~ated~ with contraceptive use by unmamed, sexually active teenagers. Among the most unportant of these are age of initiation, having a stable relationship with a sexual partner, knowledge of reproduction and contraception, acceptance of one's own sexuality, academic aspirations, and parental support and controls.
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From page 107... ...
Similarly, the better educated their parents, the more likely adolescent girls are tO use contraceptives consistently (Zeluik et al., 1981~. Cverkonch and Grote (1980)
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From page 108... ...
Similarly, comparisons of adolescent girls seeking contraception, seeking abortion, or carrying a pregnancy to term show little difference in their levels of knowledge about sexuality and birth control (Goldsmith et al., 19721. As Moore et al.
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From page 109... ...
The relationship between what adolescents know and how they behave is perhaps the most salient issue. Acceptance of One's Owr: Sexuality and Attitude About Cor'~raception Several studies have found regular and elective contraceptive use among adolescent girls to be strongly associated with acceptance of their own sexual behavior.
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From page 110... ...
in seeking family planning services and following a birth control regimen appears to lead to more consistent contraceptive use
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From page 111... ...
Does parents' education influence teenagers' achievement orientation and thereby affect their use of birth control? Or do better educated parents tend tO ~iSCUSS contraception more opendy tenth they adolescent children and tO be more supportive of they teenagers' use of birth control?
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From page 112... ...
that she must have wanted to be pregnant once she learns that she is pregnant and has decided against obtaining an abortion. Academic Aspirations and Achievement Girls who are doing well in school before pregnancy and who have a strong future orientation are more likely to choose abortion to resolve an unintended pregnancy than those who are not good students and who lack high educational and vocational goals (Steinhoff, 1976; Evans et al., 1976; Eisen et al., 1983; Leibow~tz et al., 1980; Devaney and Hubley, 1981~.
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From page 113... ...
Family Characteristics Several studies of adolescent girls who choose abortion have found that family background factors are significant predictors. In particular, it appears that whites are more likely than blacks to terminate an unintended pregnancy, and that girls from families with higher somoeconomic status are more likely to abort than those from poverty backgrounds, especially from families on welfare (Zeinik et al., 1981~.
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From page 114... ...
As the Alan Guttmacher Institute (1981) reports, only 34 percent of abortions to girls age 15 and younger are performed dunng the first eight weeks of gestation, compared with 41 percent of abortions among girls ages IS-19, and 51 percent of those among women ages 2~24.
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From page 115... ...
found no significant association between Aid to Families With Dependent Children benefit levels and acceptance rates and whether a pregnant teenager married before the birth. DETERMINANTS OF ADOPTION Because there are I1O systematically collected national data on adoption, it iS impossible tO denve precise estimates of the number and proportion of teenagers who choose this means of pregnancy resolution.
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From page 116... ...
with nonmantal childbearing: race, attitudes, poverty and unemployment, and the availability of financial assistance. Race Although the rate of childbearing has increased dramatically among unmarred white adolescents since 1970, black adolescents have always been more likely to give birth outside marriage.
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From page 117... ...
They are also disproportionate~y more likely to resort to abortion. However, since the higher abortion rate among blacks does not erase the dramatic race difference in rates of unintended pregnancy, births are much more prevalent among black than white teenagers (Moore et al., 1986~.
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From page 118... ...
among adolescent girls and willingness to become an unmaIried mother Similarly, girls who reported that they rarely talked to their parents about their plans and activities expressed greater willingness to have a child outside marriage than those who reported that they talked to they parents often. And girts who reported that their parents were less likely to mo~tor md keep track of their activities were also at greater risk of unmarried motherhood, although this pattem was found to be much stronger for whites than for blacks (Abrahamse et al., 19851.
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From page 119... ...
suggest that because welfare assistance is available, a young woman faced with a premarital pregnancy may be more likely to choose single parenthood over abortion or adoption or maniage, especially if the father is a poor prospect for support. They found little empirical evidence, however, that welfare benefit levels affect decisions to become sexually active, to become pregnant, or to marry or have an abortion, or to relinquish a child for adoption.
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From page 120... ...
We have seen that an important aspect of self-perception among teenagers is their educational, occupational, and family formation expectations Expectations, in turn, are significantly influenced by perceptions of opportunities, regardless of whether these perceptions reflect reality. Teenagers, especially girls, with a strong achievement onentation and clear future goals are less likely to become sexually involved at an early age, more likely to be regular and effective contraceptors if they are sexually active, and less likely to bear a child if they experience an unintended pregnancy.
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From page 121... ...
Yet, as several researchers point out, not all adolescent girls from poor black inner-c~ty backgrounds or rural white poverty an] not all girls from single-parent households or from large families are at higher risk of early pregnancy and childbearing (Furstenberg and Brooks-Gunn, 1985b; McAnarney and Schre:der, 1984)
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